1919 - Key West

Key West was hit by the most powerful hurricane in its history on Sept. 10, 1919. It was the only hurricane to form in the Atlantic that year. The storm killed more than 800 people before it was done -- the exact total will never be known.

More than 500 were lost on ten ships that either sunk or were reported missing. The steamer Valbanera was found between Key West and the Dry Tortugas sunkwith 488 aboard, according to Historical Preservation Society of the Upper Keys. All were lost.

Storm damage included severe damage to the Key West-Havana docks and buildings in Key West and major devastation in Corpus Christi.

The barometric pressure measured at Dry Tortugas was 27.37 inches -- the fourth lowest ever measured in the Atlantic, according to the Weather Service. Key West had gale force winds (sustained winds over 39 mph) for 38 consecutive hours. Some places in the Keys had over 13 inches of rain. The maximum sustained winds were 110 mph.

The storm maintained that strength across the Gulf of Mexico, where something even more frightening happened. According to the Corpus Christi office of the National Weather Service, they "lost" the storm on Sept. 13.

With no ship reports and only sporadic observations along the coastline, the Weather Service begana desperate attempt to find the hurricane center.

Coastal offices sent special observations by telegraph every two hours to the Washington headquarters. At midnight on the 13th, they had little to go on to determine the storm's location, and Weather Service headquarters in Washington finally called for the Corpus Christi office to "take all possible precautions against rising winds and higher tides especially if [the] barometer begins to fall steadily."

It did. The hurricane hit Corpus Christi, Texas, on Sept. 14, with 16 foot waves, at least 125 mph winds and catastropic damage. Despite reports of severe damage in Key West, many in Corpus Christi were unprepared, apparently believing the storm was heading for Louisiana.

The official death toll was 287 in Corpus Christi, but according to the National Weather Service, the estimates of the actual count there range from 400 to 1,000. The official list only counts those who werepositively identified, and city official wanted to downplay the death toll in the national media for fear of hurting tourism.

The Corpus Christi Weather Service's Web site includes several accounts of survivors there, including this one:

"A woman was washed into the Nueces Bay by the hurricane with her dog. Three times she fell off of the make-shift raft of debris and into the water.Each time the dog saved her life by pulling her by her hair to more debris. Finally, the dog fell into the water, but the owner was unable to save thepoor dog. An hour later, the woman washed upon the shore at White's Point. Her husband and son were reunited with her after four days of searching, but the dog was never found."